Hello, everyone. Welcome to this week's SWU. To start us off, I'd like to explain what this is and what you can find in it. The Septagon Weekly Update is a weekly posting on bungie.net and reddit's /r/DestinyTheGame which goes over any major community-run events, contests, meet-ups, and more. More than that, it's a way of teaching people who are new to the Septagon, if they so wish, our traditions and history. Bungie's community, known as the Septagon or Seventh Column, is a long-standing entity that predates Halo. In fact, some might argue that the first members of the budding community spawned from Bungie itself. Bungie has always been a studio who wished to make games that they would want to play. A testament to this is just how many people at Bungie were part of the Septagon before joining their ranks. It doesn't matter where you get your community from, be it the heart of the Seventh Column on bungie.net, a Halo clan made of your friends, or even a subreddit consisting of a few hundred thousand gamers. If you want to be a part of the Septagon, that's all you need. [u][b]What's Going On in the Community?[/b][/u] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/39813/169836594/0/0]Art and Stuff's off-topic art contest[/url] is in full swing, so check it out. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Forum/1315188]The Raid Rejectz[/url] is a group for those who don't get a chance to do the Raid due to not meeting the requirements of those who are looking. If you're new to Raiding or just want a chance to enter one with a team, check them out. Alternatively, [url=https://www.reddit.com/r/fireteams/new]/r/Fireteams[/url] and [url=https://www.reddit.com/r/destinysherpa]/r/DestinySherpa[/url] are also great places to check out. [quote]Hello everyone! [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Profile/254/3593422]Mechetti[/url] here with your gamenight information. This week isn't as active as most. Only two gamenights. Hopefully the rest of the month will be more eventful.[/quote] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Forum/1535]FCAW[/url][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1535/173107506/0/0] - Marathon Infinity - (2015/11/13)[/url] This week FCAW plans to bring us one of their famed Marathon Infinity nights! For those of you that don't know, FCAW is a group focused on playing Bungie's earlier titles, namely Marathon and Myth. You need to join the group to get in on the games. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Forum/99465]TFL[/url][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/99465/173015703/0/0] - Rocket League - (2015/11/14)[/url] The Friend's List is hosting a Game Night in Rocket League to test out all the new customizable features! Scheduled for tomorrow, at 9PM Eastern Time. Show up and have some fun. If you ever want to host a gamenight and have it featured here, message Charlemagne or myself about it. [u][b]Community Spotlight[/b][/u] This week we wanted to bring to light a very creative mind in the community. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Profile/254/971437]Ingulit[/url] was kind enough to join me for a short interview, going into some detail on both his history in software development and the creation of his application, [url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=scave.dvend&hl=en]Tower+ for Destiny[/url]. [quote][b]Q: Hello, Ingulit. Thank you for taking the time to do this. To start this off, can you tell us a little about yourself and your application?[/b] A: Sure! I am an avid programmer and 3D modeller by interest and instruction. I've fallen in love with all things software development and have gotten a bachelor's and master's in Computer Science, and am now working on a Ph.D. Even in my spare time I love programming, and I've especially enjoyed writing Android apps for the communities I'm involved in. Tower+ is a free Android app whose goal is to be the best place to get information about what's being sold in Destiny. The app lists all the items each vendor is selling, including all those items' perks/stats/costs, whether or not a given item is in your collection, and other information. You can also set up the app to check whenever a vendor refreshes and have the app notify you if that vendor starts selling something you want, such as when the Outfitter is selling an Emblem that isn't in your collection. [b]Q: Wow, all of that is absolutely incredible. You sound like someone who is very well versed in what you do. It's great to see such talent and skill in the community. It's great to see people not only look into and dabble with the public API, but also to use and master it. What got you interested in software development? Also, what about Destiny made you want to create this extraordinary application?[/b] A: Thank you! I've been interested in computers and games since I was very young. I actually got my start back in middle school by modding Halo: Custom Edition (the PC version of another of Bungie's classics), using a self-taught 3D modelling program to add new maps and weapons. Then right before high school a friend recommended the book "Sam's Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours", and after spending the summer pouring over it I was totally hooked. Destiny has held my attention like no other game, and the community (especially the DestinyTheGame Reddit) has been amazing. One day someone posted about the Year 1 Xerxes-C with Focus Fire (which defeats Guardians with two headshots), and I wanted to somehow be notified if the Gunsmith started selling one so I didn't miss it. When I then did some searching and found out about the Destiny API, I decided to learn and use it and to put my Android experience to work to develop what is now Tower+. [b]Q: That's pretty incredible, to be honest. It's great to see such ingenuity spawn out of a desire for creation. Is there any chance we can see a version of this on iOS devices or is this going to be an Android-only application?[/b] A: It'll be primarily be Android-only for the time being, though I am hoping to release it for Windows Phone/10 soon! It would be awesome to be able to learn iOS and eventually port the app, but I unfortunately don't have access to an iOS development machine often enough to be able to really work on it. [b]Q: Fair enough. The fact that you're doing so much for the community as it is is more than enough, especially since it's a free product. How long did it take you to make the initial app?[/b] A: I'd say about a month total, give or take. [b]Q: That's a good chunk of time. Any idea how long you've spent on the development of the application up until now?[/b] A: Oh my, at least another month total if not more. It has been a ton of fun working on it, though, and I've gained a lot of experience with Java, Android, and software development in general along the way. [b]Q: More than anything, I think it's great to hear how much you've enjoyed creating it, not to mention how much the community as a whole appreciates it, as we can see from it's very eager appraisal. Thank you very much for your time, for answering my questions, and for making such a useful app. Before we go, do you have any advice you want to give budding software developers? Any future features or updates you want to tease? In general, any parting remarks?[/b] A: To anyone just getting started with programming, keep with it! It's an extremely fun and rewarding field, and if you find a good tutorial or book to start with you'll be making cool stuff in no time. Comment your code, write example programs to practice, and try not to get too frustrated if you get errors at first (a quick internet search almost always provides a solution). As far as future features, there are some user-requested things I’m almost done implementing, and I have a few ideas up my sleeve for future updates that I’m currently testing (doing more with Armsday orders, for example). Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how helpful the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Forum/39966]BungieNetPlatform group[/url] has been for working with the Destiny API, and I especially need to thank my fellow Destiny app developer [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Profile/254/4648286]Bunk3r[/url]. Without his help when I was getting started on this app it almost certainly wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you very much as well! [b]And thank you, Ingulit, for taking your time to answer my questions. I'm sure a lot of people who are interested in this process or who use your app will be thankful for you taking the time out of your day for this. Take care.[/b][/quote] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/520845/173304959/0/0][b]Continued Here.[/b][/url]